Goa Gajah

Goa Gajah or the elephant cave is a temple complex on the island of Bali. The complex includes several more caves, ancient statues, images of spirits carved on the rocks and a bathhouse. The opening of this place for the general public took place in 1954 and since then it has been very popular with tourists.

History of the cave

It is not known exactly when and how the “Epholon cave” appeared, the elephants never lived in it, and it got its name in honor of the god Ganesha, who has an elephant's head. Most likely, the cave appeared between the 9th and 11th centuries, its internal structure is partly of natural origin, but the niches for meditation are most likely carved by human hands.

The entrance to Goa Gajah — is a huge head with round eyes and an open mouth. The sight is quite ominous. The letters of the 14th century say that on the territory of the basement there was a community of Buddhist monks, thanks to them this place was considered the main center of Buddhism on the whole island. The monks guarded this place from strangers and the Europeans first learned about the temple in 1923, during an expedition of the colonial squad.

Temple complex device

In addition to the Goa Gajah cave itself, there is a lot of interesting things in the complex. It is noteworthy that objects of both Buddhist and Hindu religion coexist here. Part of the cultural monuments is covered with a layer of dense moss.

The statue of Velikanshi Hariti — is located near the entrance to the cave of Goa Gajah, an ancient statue, it is more than 1000 years old. According to legend, Hariti devoured children, but when she came to Buddhism she changed and, on the contrary, began to protect children in every possible way.

The bathing temple — consists of two domes: male and female. The water was previously served by statues of seven beautiful virgins. Girls are symbols of the main rivers of India. Today there are only six statues, one of them was transported to another place.

The cave of giants — is another attraction of the complex, despite the name of the cave is very small, a statue is installed inside. Most likely this cave — is the work of man, now hecon lizards live in it.

Legends

Most of the legends are related to the name of the cave. There is an opinion that the colonists who came here at the beginning of the 20th century called the elephant cave, it seemed to them that there was some similarity to the honey elephant and head — entrance. According to another version, the Goa Gajah cave was named after the river of the same name, which flows near these places. The head at the entrance seems to many like the spirit, but evil or good, it is a mystery. There is a version that this is a forest mythical creature, it takes away bad thoughts from everyone who enters inside.